Ethereum Firm Sharplink, Solana Treasury Forward Industries Joining Russell 2000, 3000 Indexes

Publicly traded Ethereum treasury firm Sharplink will join the Russell 2000 and 3000 indexes when their semiannual restructure goes into effect on June 29, the firm announced on Tuesday.

The firm’s index inclusion follows that of peer and rival Ethereum treasury firm BitMine Immersion Technologies, which will also be included in the Russell 1000 index—which tracks America’s top 1,000 companies by market cap.

“Joining the Russell 2000 and Russell 3000 is a meaningful validation of Sharplink's institutional-grade ETH treasury strategy and we believe will broaden SBET's shareholder base while strengthening our access to capital markets,” said the firm’s CEO Joseph Chalom in a statement.

The firm, which holds 874,351 ETH valued around $1.8 billion, is currently trading at a discount to its Ethereum holdings with a market cap of around $1.22 billion as of the end of the trading day Tuesday, according to data from Yahoo Finance.

Another crypto treasury firm, the Solana-focused Forward Industries, also will be reconstituted into the Russell 2000 and 3000 indexes, the firm announced.

The medical design firm turned Solana accumulator purchased $1.58 billion worth of SOL last year at an average price of around $232 per SOL. Now, though, SOL is trading at just $83.78—a dip of 64% since the firm’s massive purchase.

As a result, its Solana holdings are now valued around $588 million, substantially more than its current market cap of $350 million. At that valuation, the firm is about 2.4 times larger than the Russell 2000’s smallest market cap member, per the index fund’s website.

The firms’ respective inclusions in the Russell Indexes places them inside a basket of U.S. indexes with more than $12.2 trillion in benchmarks or investments.

“We believe index inclusion will expand our shareholder base, improve trading liquidity, and increase visibility among long-term institutional investors,” said Forward Industries CEO Ryan Navi in a statement.

Shares in the firms have reacted differently amid the news, with shares in Sharplink (SBET) dipped around 0.8% on Tuesday to $6.18 per share. Meanwhile, Forward (FWDI) shares rose 2.62%, changing hands around $4.70 at the close of trading.